With cornerback/returner Cassius Vaughn going on injured reserve after he suffered a broken leg Sunday in San Diego, the Broncos called up defensive players Kyle McCarthy and Mike Mohamed from their practice squad.

The Broncos had been one player below the 53-man roster limit before the moves.

Vaughn suffered the injury while returning a kickoff before the Broncos’ first possession. McCarthy is a safety and Mohamed is a strongside linebacker. Both played well on special teams during the preseason.

The moves also mean the team will continue to go with only two active quarterbacks in Tim Tebow and Brady Quinn while rookie Adam Weber will remain on the practice squad.

Run, Tebow, run.

For as long as the NFL has kept official statistics — which is only back to 1950 — no quarterback has rushed the ball more than the 22 carries Tim Tebow had Sunday at San Diego.

It was the overtime period that gave Tebow the record. He had 16 carries through regulation, then had six more in the extra period, which lasted 14:31. The previous record for quarterback carries was 20, set by San Francisco’s Billy Kilmer in 1961.

“In a lot of ways, the quarterback is more exposed in the pass game than he is in the run game because you can’t defend yourself,” Fox said when asked about the high number of Tebow carries.

Be flexible.

Just to be safe, Broncos fans, keep the night of Dec. 18 free.

The white-hot Broncos with ratings-monster Tim Tebow will play the New England Patriots that day at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. For now, that game is scheduled to kick off at 2:15 p.m.

But in an agreement the NFL has with NBC, the league and network have the right to pick a more compelling game than the one originally scheduled for prime time. As of now, the Sunday night game on the schedule for Dec. 18 has 8-3 Baltimore playing at 4-7 San Diego. The Chargers’ six-game slide makes that game less appealing.

Tebow is appealing. The Broncos have won four in a row to climb into playoff contention and the Patriots are the perennial team to beat, so the Dec. 18 game may be more palatable. Nothing will be announced until Monday.

Bronco burglarized.

Police in Lone Tree are investigating a pair of burglaries at the home of Broncos linebacker D.J. Williams. He had been burglarized twice in the past two months, said Michelle Kivela, a Lone Tree spokeswoman.

Police have a suspect in the case but are awaiting a warrant before releasing more information. “We don’t want to compromise our investigation,” Kivela said.

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